What If
by JTRN08
Summary: What if during the escape in PONR, Dean, thinking of his brothers' safety, pushed Sam and Adam out the door, leaving Dean behind to be taken as Michael's vessel?
1. The recap

**Staying up all night between night shifts has given me a terrible case of the What-Ifs. Keep in mind this is what my sleep deprived brain came up with.**

 **Point of No Return What If**

 **What if during the escape in PONR, Dean, thinking of his brothers' safety, pushed Sam and Adam out the door, leaving Dean behind to be taken as Michael's vessel?**

* * *

Dean looked between his brothers and Zachariah and was filled with complete panic. Sam was choking on blood in one corner, Adam in another. And before him was Zachariah, controlling everything.

"Stop it. Stop it right now!" Dean begged, unable to bear the sight of his brothers in so much pain.

"In exchange for what?" Zachariah asked, advancing towards Dean.

"Damn it, Zachariah." Dean replied in disgust. "Stop it, please. I'll do it."

Dean could hear Sam telling him not to, could hear Zachariah's taunting words, but Dean just wanted Sam and Adam to be safe. "The answer is yes." Dean knew his fate was sealed with those four simple words.

He tried to glance at Sam but couldn't bear to look at him and instead looked to Adam, who turned away under the strain of what the angel was doing to his body.

"How do I know you're not lying?" Zachariah asked.

"Do I look like I'm lying?" Dean said, angry that the angel would doubt his intentions to do anything and everything possible to save his brothers.

Seemingly satisfied with Dean's answer, Zachariah turned away and started chanting, summoning Michael. Dean glanced one last time to Sam, who turned away in pain. Whether from Dean's betrayal or from the angel's magic, Dean wasn't sure. But as he continued to watch Sam, a thought came to his head. _This stupid son-of-a-bitch brought me here. I can't let him down by giving in._

Dean knew there was a change in his own expression when Sam's face went from anguished to confused. Dean winked at him, having a plan set in his mind.

"Of course I have a few conditions. A few people whose safety you have to guarantee before I say yes." Dean said, all pain and panic gone from his voice. Zachariah was flippant to his request so Dean continued, trying to lure Zachariah closer. "But most of all, Michael can't have me until he disintegrates you."

Zachariah seemed only slightly phased by Dean's request, so Dean continued. He needed him close for this to work, needed the angel right in front of him.

"Before Michael gets one piece of this sweet ass, he has to turn you into a piece of charcoal."

Zachariah rebuffed him, professing his own importance now that he had convinced the true vessel to agree. All Dean had to do was remind him that it was now Dean who was more important, as the one true vessel, not the lesser seraph. That got Zachariah to come closer, to grab Dean and shove him to the table, continuing to proclaim his own self-importance.  
"Do you know who I am after I deliver you to Michael?" The angel asked.

"Expendable." Dean replied with a snarl.

"Michael's not going to kill me!" Zachariah professed.

"Maybe not." Dean said, the blade falling to his hand. "But I am."

Dean thrust the blade into Zachariah's head. He watched the blindingly bright light explode from his body, yet Dean somehow managed to keep his eyes open to watch it. The light exploded, knocking Dean back as the body fell to the floor, the imprint of burnt wings stretching out over the wall and the floor. It was then that Dean noticed the room shaking, noticed the high pitch screech of angel voices getting louder.

Another bright light started to fill the room from above. Adam was closest to Dean, so he went to the youngest Winchester first. Pulling him up and heading for Sam, he sent Adam to the door to open it and keep it open.

Dean pulled Sam and slung Sam's arm around his shoulder, helping his brother to where Adam was waiting. He motioned for Adam to leave, placing himself at the door to keep it open for Sam. As Dean pushed Sam out the door he was knocked back by an invisible force. Dean watched the door slam shut, locking him in the room. He could hear Sam's please from the other side but they were quickly being drowned out by the loud noise.

The light was blinding, the noise unbearable. Yet Dean didn't seem as effected by it as he had before, as he had when Cas tried to approach him the first time. Soon there was nothingness.

* * *

 **Dun-dun-dunnnnnn. Did you like it? More chapters to come, most will focus on Sam's journey to find and save Dean. We'll see Dean again tho.**


	2. The aftermath

**And now what Sam does after...**

* * *

Sam heard the slamming door behind him as he fell to the ground. Using all the strength he had left, Sam stood and took the few steps back to the door.

"Dean!" He called, banging on the door. He reached for the knob but it burned his hand and Sam had to pull back. Soon the door was surrounded by bright, white light. Sam couldn't even stand near the door anymore because of it but he kept calling for his brother, hoping beyond all hope that Dean could still escape.

The light disappeared and Sam raced to open the door to get to Dean, however when he did all that was behind it was an abandoned office. Papers were strewn over the desk, thick dust collected on every surface. Sam tried calling out for Dean one last time before falling to his knees. Dean was gone, Sam had failed him and was unable to keep him from the Archangel.

"What do we do?" Adam said from behind Sam. He turned around to face the youngest Winchester, who was leaning heavily on an exposed beam.

"I….I don't know." Sam replied. "We need to get out of here. We need to get somewhere safe and then we can think about what to do next."

Sam and Adam helped each other out of the factory and found a car nearby. Sam hotwired it and the two sped off toward Bobby's. The first hundred miles or so were spent in almost complete silence. The two half-brothers only asked about how the other was doing. Neither brought up Dean.

After a few hours, Sam started to feel tired. A side effect of losing so much blood, he figured. Pulling off the highway and into the parking lot of a small diner he glanced over to Adam. The kid was awake, staring blankly out the window.

"Hey, Adam." Sam said, catching his attention. "Let's get something to eat and rest for a bit. If I keep driving I'll fall asleep and kill us both."

 _Then Dean's sacrifice will really be for nothing._ Sam thought.

Adam doesn't say anything in response, simply opens the passenger side door and gets out of the car. Sam directs the younger man to a table while he heads for the bathroom. Sam knows there must be dried blood on his face from the fight and he should clean it off before eating. The car had had a half filled bottle of water in the cup holder that Adam had used to clean off his face. Once in the bathroom, Sam leans heavily on the sink. He glances at himself in the mirror but looks away, ashamed. After everything Dean had done to save him from Lucifer, Sam had been powerless to save Dean from Michael. He washes off the blood, fights back the tears trying so desperately to fall from his eyes and exits the restroom. Adam is mindlessly skimming through a menu when Sam sits down.

The waitress comes and takes their orders, a salad for Sam and a cheeseburger with fries for Adam. If Sam were in a better mood, he would smirk at how the oldest and youngest Winchesters were so alike. But for now, it's all Sam can do not to burst into tears because it should have been Dean's voice ordering the grease filled meal. It should be Dean sitting across the table from him.

"Sam" Adam says, drawing Sam from his thoughts. "I'm sorry. I should have trusted you guys more. If I had, maybe…"

"No, it's not your fault." Sam replied, cutting off Adams apology. "We gave you no real reason to trust us, just grabbed you out of nowhere and tried to tell you what to do."

"So what now?" Adam asked. "Is there a way to get Dean back? Can't you angel friend help?"

"I don't know where Cas is, or if he's even alive. He fought off the angels protecting the room you were in and disappeared." Sam told him. Even if Cas had managed to survive the attack, he was likely powerless somewhere in the world. Or maybe not even in the world all together.

Their food arrived and Sam was grateful, he didn't have much else to say. The two ate their meals in silence. Looking out the window, he noticed it was well past sundown and he could see the glow of a motel sign just up the road a bit. They were still a good 800 miles from Bobby's house and they couldn't make that trip as exhausted as they both were. It was then that Sam realized he had never called Bobby to let him know what happened.

"Finish up, I'm gonna go make a couple phone calls." Sam said, standing from the table and tossing down a card to cover the meal. He stepped outside, taking a deep breath and trying to find the strength to tell Bobby they had failed. The phone rings a few times before the older man picks up.

"Hello?" Bobby says, and he sounds like he's been asleep. Sam mentally kicks himself for not calling sooner. If it's dark and late at night here, it's at least an hour ahead where Bobby is.

"Bobby, its Sam." Sam says, his voice cracking. "We….we lost Dean."

"Balls!" Bobby replies on the other end of the phone. Sam tells him what happened, how Dean pushed him and Adam through the door before getting locked inside.

"Well, that's you idjit brother for you." Bobby says, sadness evident in his voice. "Always giving up something of himself for family."

Sam tells Bobby that he has Adam with him and they are stopping for the night. He's not even sure what town it is, just that are somewhere near the center of Utah. Bobby tells them to be careful, now that the Michael has Dean Lucifer will likely be hunting down Sam.

"You two be safe, don't get killed." Bobby says sternly, but his voice softens when he tells Sam that they will get Dean back.

Sam isn't completely sure they will, or if they do Dean likely won't be in one piece. Two months ago, when the brothers returned from time travel to attempt to save their parents, Dean had told Sam about the conversation he had with Michael, that the archangel promised not to leave him a drooling mess like the other archangels did with their vessels. Sam was doubtful, thinking it was only a ploy to get Dean to cooperate but Dean had brought it up several times in the last couple of weeks, as if trying to convince himself that saying yes wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Adam joined Sam outside shortly, carrying the fake credit card in his hand.

"Really? Casper F. Ghost? Who picks the names for these things?" Adam asked, handing the card to Sam. Sam laughed a little. That particular one had been Dean's idea while hopped up on pain killers quite a while back. The two got into the car and drove to the motel to stay for the night. Tomorrow they would try to finish the trip to Bobby's, but right now they just needed to rest.

* * *

 **I'm gonna try to do at least one chapter with each of the episodes that followed til the end of the season. Next up, Hammer Of The God's, will Dean make an appearance? pretty darn likely, don't think I can write more than one chapter in a row without my favorite Winchester.**


	3. Hammer Of The Gods 1

**First Part of Hammer Of The Gods.**

* * *

Sam and Adam had been at Bobby's for nearly two weeks, searching through all the books and files for a way to summon Michael and save Dean. So far, they had nothing. What was just as frustrating was that all signs of angel and demon fighting had disappeared, there were no signs of demonic possessions either. It was eerie how silent the supernatural world had become. Bobby guess that since Michael walked the earth now that Lucifer and his minions were running scared. Trying to get Sam out of the house, Bobby sent the two half-brothers on a hunting trip, some poltergeist who apparently never got the memo to go to ground.

"But Bobby, there's still so much here to go through." Sam all but whined when Bobby presented them with a case.

"My eyes still work, idjit. I can read just fine, but you know very well I can't hunt. I need you two to go do this." Bobby replied, grabbing a box of papers from Sam's hands. What he didn't say was they Dean wouldn't want Sam to let innocent people die simply so they could save him. "And take the Impala, you know your brother'll kill you if you let it rust out while he's gone."

Sam felt odd driving the Impala. It was Dean's prized possession and Dean only let Sam drive if he was too tired or too injured to drive himself. He adjusted the seat to his height, knowing Adam wouldn't be squished. The kid was shorter than Dean. The moment the car started, Dean's music blared from the speakers from the last time they'd been in the car. Sam froze for a second before hitting the button to turn off the sound. He glanced over to Adam who was staring out the passenger window, clearly trying not to look at Sam. The two drove off in silence in the direction of Indiana.

They were only three hours into the nearly 12 hour drive when Adam spoke for the first time since leaving Bobby's.

"How did you guys do this all your lives?" Adam asked.

"Do what?" Sam replied, unsure which "what" Adam was referring to.

"Live on the road like this, stay cooped up in this car for hours on end with nothing to do." Adam said. He had lived a stationary life, if not completely stable. He had never been dragged from hunting trip to hunting trip his entire childhood.

"I don't know." Sam replied sullenly. "I guess when you don't know anything different, it's not something that bothers you."

Sam glanced quickly around the car, taking in everything that had made his childhood special.

"I grew up in this car, my first memories are in this car. Mine and Dean's names are carved into the backseat, and trust me, John was not happy when he saw _that_." Sam explained.

"Here, listen" Sam said, turning on the heater even though the weather was warm enough not to need it. The sound of something rattling in the vents filled the car and Sam could almost hear his and Dean's childish giggles from the back seat. "Dean shoved some Legos in the vents when we were kids after John had spent a week trying to figure out some odd noise, it drove him nuts but he laughed with us when he figured it out."

"Did you really live in the car the whole time?" Adam asked.

"No, we stayed in cheap motels, we rented small houses or apartments when we had the money. But this car has always been more of a home than any of those places." Sam answered. He smiled sadly and sighed. "I'm just sorry that it took me this long to really get it."

Just then both of their stomachs decided to make them well aware that it past time for lunch. Sam pulled the car into a small diner. They sat down at a table, Adam a little more relaxed since he now knew a little more of how Sam and Dean were raised. To them, his life did look like a dream. He stayed in one place, went to school at the same school every year.

Sam watched as Adam ordered food similar to what Dean would have ordered if he was here. He knew there was no way that Adam could replace Dean, but having at least some familiarity around was comforting. It was almost as if he was sitting here with a de-aged version of Dean. Just the idea of that made Sam laugh a little. The world would be in for so much trouble if that ever happened.

After their pit stop, they were back on the road, trying to finish the long drive. They could have made the trip in one day if it hadn't started pouring just short of their destination. If they weren't in central Indiana, Sam would have thought it was a hurricane. The storm was odd, but not quite demonically odd. Just ahead Sam saw a sign for a motel and pulled into the parking lot, they would have to wait out the storm, it was too dangerous to drive.

* * *

 **Sorry, gotta wait til next chapter to see Dean again.**


	4. Hammer Of The Gods 2

**and I'm back. a couple new chapters, hope you like them.**

* * *

The motel was nice, far nicer than the majority of the places Sam and Dean had stayed in over the years. It looked almost brand new or, at the very least, recently remodeled. The lobby buzzed with people, not just one guy in a grungy tee shirt behind a desk. Sam was a little creeped out by the overly perky desk attendant though. Either the guy was on some amount of caffeine or he just really loved his job.

"Busy night?" Sam asked while the attendant, Chet, typed their information into the computer.

"Any port in a storm, I guess." The guy smiled and handed Sam a key to their room. The man then offered Sam a tissue, saying something about him having a shaving cut, which was odd since Sam hadn't shaved since yesterday. Sam took the key and the tissue, dabbing at his neck.

"Is there a coffee shop here" Adam asked. The man directed them to the buffet in the adjoining room and Sam couldn't help but chuckle as Adam's eyes lit up when he mentioned that the pie was the best in the area.

Sam sat at a table with a small plate of food while Adam perused the buffet tables. He pulled up his laptop and opened a local news stations weather page. As he read the article he started to worry that something strange was going on. The weatherman said this storm popped up out of nowhere, and didn't even seem to be moving from the small area of the state that it was over. Sam could feel his gut telling him to escape, to run, but his brain just brushed it off. It was spring time, storms popped up all the time and when fronts collided they stalled out.

The room was just as nice as the rest of the hotel, chocolates on the pillows and pay-per-view TV. Adam had gone into the room in front of Sam and was lounging on a bed.

"Now this is more like it." He said, sinking into the overly plush bed.

Sam was just about to voice his concerns that this all seemed a little to coincidental when there was a loud banging on the wall on the side of the room where they had seen a couple walk in as the two made their way down the hallway. There was another bang, this time strong enough to dislodge brinks and send a cloud of dust into the room. Sam and Adam shared a look before Sam took off for the next room over. When he got there, there was no one there, and the wall on this side seemed undisturbed.

"That was….weird." Sam heard Adam say from the doorway behind him. Sam told him to stay in their room and went to talk to the desk attendant again.

The man told him the guests had simply checked out and couldn't, or wouldn't, say more. Sam returned to the room, even more concerned now. He voiced his concerns to Adam about everything that was going on, the higher end motel in the middle of nowhere, the strange storm and now whatever this was with the people next door.

"Do you guys ever get a day off?" Adam asked. _No, not really._ Sam thought.

"I'm gonna see if I can get the desk guy to tell me more." Sam said, digging through a bag. "You take this and just walk up and down the hallways, see if it lights up at all."

Sam tossed Adam the EMF reader Dean had made several years back before heading out the door in hopes of catching the clerk. He tailed the man through the halls for a bit before losing him in what looked like a dead end hallway. Heading back to the room, he saw Adam running towards him.

"Woah, slow down. Whats wrong?" Sam asked.

"Dude, I saw an elephant! An elephant, in one of the rooms. And this thing, it started going nuts. But when I turned back to get another look there was only some guy there." Adam rambled out, the kid clearly in shock.

"Alright, we're getting out of here, now." Sam said, pulling Adam back to the elevators. When they got to the lobby it was empty, Sam tried to open the doors and they were locked. Someone, or some _thing_ , wanted them here. They would have to find out what and why and then kill it. The two looked around, walking through the kitchen in search of anyone. There was a pot left boiling on the stove and Adam went over to it to look at it. Whatever it was that was cooking was blood red and when Adam picked up the spoon in the pot there were eyeballs in it.

"I think I'm gonna puke." He said, turning away from the pot.

"Just breathe. You'll be fine." Sam said, heading for the large walk in fridge. As he approached and looked in, a guy he recognized from the buffet appeared at the window and started screaming for help. Sam pulled out his lock picking kit but before he could even get close to the door someone grabbed him and pulled him away. Looking over his shoulder he saw two guys in suits, one holding Adam and the other on him. Sam tried to fight back but they were far too strong for him. They were led to a conference room where it seemed like there was a meeting going on, a meeting of very bad people. They all had name tags with the names of gods from Norse to Hindu legends.

The clerk rolled in a cart with a covered platter, dramatically opened it to reveal several body parts including the head of the newlywed.

A bright light shined down on the brothers and the one with the nametag that said "Baldir" announced that the guest of honor had arrived. Sam and Adam were forced into chairs at the end of the big tables in the room. They both knew trying to escape right now was pointless, they'd just be caught and brought back, or killed.

Baldir started his speech, greeting everyone and talking about how nice it was to have so many gods under one roof.

"Oh, we are so screwed." Sam muttered.

"We all know why we are here, the Judeo-Christian apocalypse looms over us." Baldir said. "We have one bargaining chip, Lucifer's vessel."

The gods then started arguing with each other. Arguing over whose apocalypse would be the true end of the world, over whose beliefs were less credible than the others. Sam knew they only needed him and motioned for Adam to try to escape, using the escalating argument as a distraction. However, Adam was stopped by a falling chandelier.

"Stay." The woman in the red dress with the name Kali on her tag said. "You may only be the back-up vessel, but you are useful too."

Adam slunk back into his seat as she continued to speak, saying they needed to fight the archangels, that nothing else would stop this. The desk clerk, Mercury, piped in saying that they should try talking to them first, but Kali promptly shot down his idea by chocking him with his own blood.

The doors to the room suddenly flew open revealing Gabriel, who walked into the room with his usual flippant attitude. Sam's eyes widened in shock, sure that any minute now the gods would strike him dead. Adam just looked confused and Sam remembered that he had never met this angel, didn't know who he was. Gabriel continued to talk, the other gods referring to him by his assumed name of Loki. Gabriel of course said that the angels apocalypse couldn't be stopped and then turned back to the brothers.

"Sam and, well, not Dean. The adults need to talk." He said, snapping his fingers and sending them back to their room.


	5. Hammer Of The Gods 3

**The last chapter for Hammer Of The Gods. Enjoy.**

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Adam asked, near panic.

"That was an archangel who pretended to be a demi-god because he didn't want to deal with his brothers." Sam groused. God he hated Gabriel.

"What do we do now? Is he on our side or their side or the angel's side?" Adam asked, sitting on the bed.

"He's on his own side." Sam grumbled. "We need to try to get the people free from the freezer and then get the hell out of here."

"And what makes you think that'll work, Sammy?" He heard a voice say from the couch. He turned to see Gabriel lounging there like he'd been there the whole time.

"Not like you're helping at all." Sam said.

"Relax, I'm here to save you guys, well mostly you Sam. Who's the kid?" Gabriel asked, circling Adam.

"He is not you're concern, I am." Sam threatened. "Weren't you the one telling Dean and I to play our rolls just a few months ago? Why do you want to try to help us now?"

"Oh, you'll still play you're parts, Michael and Lucifer will still get their little prize fight. Just not tonight." Gabriel said, looking around the room. "Really, though, where is that older brother of yours?"

Sam didn't answer and by not saying anything he could see that Gabriel guessed what had happened.

"Well, at least one of you took me seriously." Gabriel added.

"Why do you care what those gods do?" Sam asked.

"I…don't" Gabriel sputtered. "But I kinda had a thing with Kali. We all know that Lucifer is on his way here, and he is going to turn them into finger paint."  
"So just zap us out of here then." Sam challenged.

"Him, I could with no problem." Gabriel responded, pointing at Adam. "But you, they have you locked down Sammy boy. It's a blood spell, they've got you on a leash."

"Fine, then get him out of here and we can deal with the angry mob of gods." Sam said. "And take the people locked in the freezer with you while you're at it."

"No can do. It'll be hard enough sneaking him out never mind them." Gabriel said. He was getting on Sam's last nerve.

"They called you Loki, so they don't know who you really are, do they?" Sam challenged. "How about you do what I say before I tell them who you really are. I'm sure they'd be thrilled to know there's an archangel in the little group."

"I can always just cut your tongues out" Gabriel responded.

"Then we'll write it down." Adam piped in.

"Then I'll cut of your hands!" Gabriel said.

"Oh yeah, that'll be real inconspicuous. I think they'll wonder where our hands went, don't you." Sam quipped. He could see that Gabriel had finally relented. There was nothing he could possibly do to stop them without giving himself away.

"Fine." Gabriel sighed. "I'll get your blood back."

He snapped his fingers and was gone from the room.

Sam sat down heavily on the bed. He really disliked the archangels. He disliked pretty much any angel except Cas. Cas was the only one to ever be trustworthy or helpful. He so wished that Cas was here right now to help.

"So, what now?" Adam asked quietly from where he had sunk back down into a chair.

"We do our best to free the people in the freezer while he tries to break the spell." Sam said, standing and heading for the door. They got to the kitchen without any problem, which made Sam feel a little uneasy. As he went to pick the lock once more he was pulled away by one of the gods who promptly tried to strangle him. Suddenly the god's skin flashed red and Sam looked to see that Adam had impaled the god with a wooden stake.

"Good job, Adam." Sam said, breathlessly. "Where the hell is Gabriel?"

The two were pulled back to the conference room once more. When the doors opened they saw Gabriel sitting in a chair with Kali glaring down at him. They caught the end of Gabriel and Kali's conversation, apparently she had known for some time the Gabriel was an archangel.

"The trickster had tricked us." Kali said, sidling up to Gabriel and reaching her hand into his jacket she pulled out Gabriel's angel blade. "An archangel's blade, from the archangel Gabriel."

Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat. _Yep,_ he thought, _we're screwed._ Gabriel tried to explain why he pretended to be a demi-god, tried to explain that Lucifer was a bigger problem. Kali called him a spy and Gabriel fired back that he was a runaway. Kali continued her surprisingly calm tirade, scoffing at the sheer nerve of western religion to think that they were the ones who controlled the planet. Kali then stabbed Gabriel in the chest with the blade, the archangel lit up with bright, white light before slumping over dead.

Sam truly believed the angel to be dead and their only chance at escaping gone. Until he noticed there were no wings burned into the floor, or the chair. Knowing that they all believed Gabriel to be dead, Sam stood and started talking.

"All you things do is kill. That's why you are hunted and you are killed. Right now, I want nothing more than to slit all of your throats, because I'm a hunter, that's what I do." Sam said, walking towards Gabriel. "Instead, I'm going to help you. You need me to find Lucifer, I'm his vessel. But before I help you, you need to let all those people you have locked up go. No more innocent lives or human flesh for you to dine on. We'll take on the devil together."

Sam was very surprised that they agreed, but he tried not to let it show. He was playing them with the belief that only he could help them locate and defeat Lucifer. Even though he knew Lucifer would find him well before Sam had a chance to do anything. Him and Adam guided the people out of the motel and to their cars and watched as they all sped off. He turned when he heard Gabriel call out to him from the Impala.

"Nice distraction back there." Sam said, slipping into the driver's seat. "Where's your real blade?"

"I'm not gonna tell you that, that thing can kill me." Gabriel replied. "Nice speech in there. How about you go get our blood back?"

" _Our_ blood?" Sam laughed. "Wow, you really screwed up this time."

"Yeah, yeah. Kali likes you, you can get close enough to get it." Gabriel implored.

"No." Sam said. "How about you give me the real blade and help me help them defeat Lucifer."

"What? Are you out of your mind Sam?" Gabriel said. "Since when you do help the monsters."

"Well, it's the best plan I see, so either give me the blade and help me or run and hide." Sam shot back.

"The angels already have one vessel and you're practically handing over the other one!" Gabriel said, still fighting to not have to face Lucifer. "I can't kill my brother."

"Fine." Sam said, getting out of the car and slamming the door. He headed back into the motel and to the conference room. Adam was still sitting in the chair where Sam left him, clearly to scared or confused to move. "That blade is a fake, Gabriel is still alive and kicking. I can call Lucifer here but we have nothing to fight him with."

Suddenly there was a commotion in the hall way. The sound of screaming gods split the air. _Shit,_ Sam thought, _we're too late._

"Zap us out of here. Now!" Sam demanded. The gods replied that they couldn't and seemed to be distracted by someone at the doorway to the room. Sam turned to see Lucifer standing there, his meat suit falling to pieces.

"You didn't say please." Lucifer quipped. Baldir went on attack and Lucifer easily shoved his hand through the god's chest. "Sam, it's so good to see you again. And who is this? Another Winchester brother? Interesting."

Kali tried to attack as well and the brothers jumped out of the way of the flames behind a table. Gabriel appeared next to them, his true angel blade in his hand. Gabriel stood and deflected Lucifer's killing blow. Gabriel helped Kali up and told Sam and Adam to get her out. Sam simply directed Adam to take her to the car and drive. Adam tried to argue back but Sam pushed them from the room and closed the doors.

"Lucifer, you're my brother and I love you." Gabriel said. "But you are a great big bag of dicks!"

"What did you just call me?"

"You are nothing but a petulant child. 'I'm gonna crush the whole world 'cause daddy was mean to me.' Boo hoo!" Gabriel spat. Sam was kind of surprised to see this much fight in the angel after the conversation they had just a little while ago. "You were dad's favorite and you couldn't stand the fact that something took that away, could you?"

"Watch your tone, brother." Lucifer threatened. "What if Michael was here?"

"I'd kick is ass, too!" Gabriel said. When Lucifer called him disloyal, Gabriel told him that he was loyal to the cause their father had left them, to protect humanity. Sam wasn't sure what else he could do except provide a distraction so Gabriel could kill Lucifer. So Sam grabbed a knife off the table, know it would do nothing against the archangel and attacked. Lucifer saw it coming and sent Sam flying into the wall, his own blade poised to kill Gabriel.

Suddenly the room was filled with sparks and lighting and for the first time in weeks Sam saw his brother. He knew that this wasn't Dean anymore, but Michael.

"Lucifer! Stop this, now." Michael commanded with Dean's voice.

"What will you do Michael? Kill me? I'd like to see you try." Lucifer said, trying to taunt Michael into a fight.

"We both know that this is not the time nor the place." Michael calmly responded. "Leave now and I will give you one more chance to procure your proper vessel. A fight in this vessel would be one sided and you know that."

Sam was shocked that Michael wouldn't simply kill Lucifer now, instead of actually starting the apocalypse. But then again, Michael was loyal to their fathers plan and wouldn't intervene.

Lucifer snarled but disappeared. Sam stood from where he had landed and approached the angels.

"Dean?" Sam asked, hoping beyond all home that his brother was still in there somewhere.

"Your brother isn't here right now, Samuel." Michael responded. "I know that this must be hard for you, to see him but not be able to reach him. I will make sure he knows."

The angel turned to Gabriel and embraced him.

"It's been too long, brother. We all thought you were dead." Michael said.

"Well, I got pretty good at hiding. It sucks being the middle child. Gabriel responded before disappearing.

"Goodbye Samuel." Michael said before Sam could speak again. "We'll meet again soon."

* * *

 **I couldn't resist not killing Gabriel. and can't you just picture Sam's hopeful face when Michael appears.**


	6. The Devil You Know 1

**I do sincerely apologize for not updating sooner. I fully intended to work on this Sunday night, but a migraine had other ideas. So, enjoy this new chapter. It's getting harder to write Dean out of the episodes and write Adam in. Not that I didn't like Adam, but there was now way to take him from clueless non-hunter to master hunter overnight.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Sam walked into the medical clinic dressed in his federal agent suit and slipped a mask over his face. He turned and handed one to Adam, who was also in a suit and looking somewhat bewildered. During the drive from Bobby's house to the first town effected by this sudden outbreak of influenza, Adam had freaked out over having to use fake ID's and pretend to be a federal officer. Had they not been trying to track down Pestilence, the third horseman, Sam would have chuckled about how similar Adam's reaction was to Dean under the influence of ghost sickness.

A few days after the incident with the pagan gods in the motel, after Sam and Adam had headed back to Bobby's to regroup, Gabriel decided to pop in. Bobby promptly shot him with rock salt, saying it served him right for messing with Sam and Dean so much. Gabriel made some smart ass comment about "doing his heavenly duties" and Bobby tried to shoot him again. Sam had managed to calm them both down long enough to figure out why Gabriel was there. As it turns out, if Sam could get all four of the horsemen's rings, he could open the cage that Lucifer had been in and, hopefully, shove him back in.

Of course things got awkward when Gabriel mentioned that his original plan, in case he was killed by Lucifer, had been to deliver the message to Sam via a porno.

Sam looked around at the people in the clinic waiting room, all sniffling and sneezing, blowing their noses. No one seemed possessed or violent and ready to kill anyone else.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the CDC is here," The female doctor who had met them at the door said. "But what we really need is vaccine."

"Have you noticed anything unusual about the strain?" Sam asked, hoping she would say something, anything that would give him the slightest clue as to what Pestilence's plan was. "Any signs of behavioral changes, aggression or homicidal tendencies?"

"Excuse me?" The doctor said, looking completely confused by Sam's questions. "We're looking at a mild case of the flu here. The only thing odd is that a day and a half ago there wasn't a single case and now I have over seventy."

"A day and a half." Sam heard Adam say next to him. "Isn't that when Bobby said the statues started crying?" Sam tried to hush Adam before anyone could hear, but the doctor looked at them in shock.

"Haha, that's my partner, always making a joke." Sam said, trying to distract the woman from Adam's comment. She just walked away muttering about making sure they got her some vaccine. Sam took Adam by the shoulder, directing him out to the car.

"Sorry, it just came out." Adam apologized. "I'm not good at this lying to the authority's thing."

"It's ok, we just try not to spook the locals if we can avoid it." Sam replied, knowing he'd made enough stupid comments in the past.

The two hopped back in the Impala and headed to the motel. Adam called Bobby on the way, hoping the older man had more information on where Pestilence was heading. Sam told him that all they had here was pretty much the same as the last few towns, just a bunch of sick people.

"He's got the Croatoan virus up his sleeve so why is he just hitting these towns with swine flu?" Sam asked.

"It doesn't matter why he's doing it, all that matters is that he's hit four towns and we're still eating his dust." Bobby replied. "Did you boys get anything? Any hint to where he's headed next?"

"No, there's no pattern." Sam replied.

"It just looks like he's heading east." Adam said, looking over the map in his lap.

"Well, just keep heading east then." Bobby replied.

"Bobby, we're in west Nevada, east is all there is." Sam sighed, frustrated that they were getting nowhere and no closer to saving Dean.

"Say, I've got an idea." Said a voice from the backseat. Adam and Sam turned and Sam saw Crowley sitting in the backseat as if he'd been there the whole time. He slammed on the brakes, mentally asking Dean for forgiveness for driving his baby so badly, and pulled the demon knife from his jacket. Sam lunged for the back seat, the knife only hitting the leather.

"Who the hell was that?" Adam asked, looking viably spooked. "Where did he go?"

Just then there was a tapping on the passenger window and there stood the demon.

"Fancy having a chat?" Crowley asked. Sam bolted from the car and advanced on Crowley, knife still in hand. "You're upset, we should discuss it, just not here."

"You want to talk? After what you did to us?" Sam said menacingly.

"What? I gave you the Colt!"

"Yeah, and you knew it wouldn't work against Lucifer." Sam spat, Crowley's presence bringing back memories of the friends they'd lost in that ill-fated fight.

Crowley proclaimed his innocence, insisting he didn't know it wouldn't work and blaming Sam for the deaths of Ellen and Jo because he chose to bring them along. During the arguing, Adam had gotten out of the car and stood looking between Sam and Crowley. The kid looked terrified, even after all he'd seen the last few weeks.

"So this is the new Squirrel. Kinda scrawny, might need to feed him." Crowley asked, circling the youngest Winchester.

"Thought you didn't care who I brought along for the ride?" Sam said, stepping between the demon and his brother.

"Ok, fine. Look, everything is still the same, we're all in this together, right?" Crowley said, brushing off his interest in the newest hunter. Sam lunged at Crowley with the knife again, hitting only air.

"Hey, knock it off already!" Crowley said from behind Adam. "I can give you Pestilence."

"What do you know about Pestilence?" Sam asked.

"I know how to get to him." Crowley said smugly. "Really, I thought the Colt would work. It's an honest mistake, but nothing's changed. I still want the devil dead, well, now the devil knows I want him dead."

"Yeah, and I'm sure he's so happy about that." Sam scoffed.

"They burnt down my house!" Crowley yelled. "They ate my tailor! I've been hiding under a rock like a bloody salamander, every demon has their eyes out for me! This is the last place I should be, standing in the road talking to Sam and Dean-light over there, under a frigging spotlight!"

Crowley pointed to the offending light and it exploded causing Adam to jump. Sam wanted to roll his eyes at the demon, but he'd learned that sometimes you had to hear the evil thing out. Crowley asked for help but neither Winchester spoke.

"Do you want the horsemen's ring or not? The demon asked. Sam tried to keep his face neutral but he knew some shocked showed through his mask of indifference. "Yes, yes, I know all about the plan to shove Lucifer back in his cage."

"Fine." Sam said.

"Great. Get in the car, I'll give you directions." Crowley said, walking calmly back to the Impala.

"Who is he?" Adam asked, also heading for the car.

"That's Crowley, a cross roads demon." Sam sighed, getting into the car and driving to where Crowley directed him.

When they arrived at Crowley's hide-out, Sam parked the car out of sight of the road. Not that it looked like the busiest road, but this was definitely an abandoned house and they didn't want any unwanted attention.

"Here we are, my life on the lamb." Crowley bemoaned, leading the brothers into the house. "Single pane glass, used contraception in the fireplace."

Crowley pointed to the fireplace and a fire roared to life in it despite there being little firewood present.

"My hearts bleeding for you." Sam said sarcastically. "How do you know about the rings?"

"I've been keeping a close eye on you, Moose."

"I've made sure there are hex bags everywhere." Sam said. "We're hidden from demons."

"All but one," Crowley responded. "That night you and your other brother broke into my house, my valet but a special coin in your car. A tracking device of sorts. Trumps all your little hex bags and spell work. It also works as a listening device, and oh, the things I've heard."  
Sam would have groaned at the fact that this demon had managed to get the drop on them, but he knew it would make Crowley happy. Sam knew he should have checked the car better, but he was distracted by the loss of two close friends.

"So you want to cram the devil back in his box. I want in." Crowley said.

"You said you could get us Pestilence." Sam said, trying to get the location out of the demon so that he could just kill him.

"Well….I don't know where Pestilence is exactly. But I do know the demon who does." Crowley replied. Sam knew that he wouldn't get the location out of the demon just by asking. But he felt like Crowley was just dragging them along another dead end path.

"He's what you might call the horsemen's stable boy. He handles their itineraries, their personal needs. He's who you want, he can tell us where Sneezy's at." The demon explained.

"So how do we get him to spill?" Sam asked, he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like where this was headed. Torture was mostly out of the question, now that Sam had kicked demon blood and Dean was possessed.

"Well, nuts of his paygrade don't crack easy. No, we'll bring him here and then I'll sell him."

"Sell him?" Adam asked.

"Please, I've been selling sin to saints for centuries."

* * *

 **Hope you liked it, hope I didn't screw up too badly. I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible.**


	7. The Devil You Know 2

**and I'm back. I'm just now realizing how Dean-heavy this episode was. And with the storyline, I couldn't just take Sam and put him in Dean's place like I did with HOTG. Hope I'm still doing ok with it.**

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"So, where is this demon that we want?" Sam asked.

"I'll take your little brother here to get him." Crowley said, approaching Adam.

"No way in hell, Crowley." Sam responded, attempting to place himself between the demon and his brother. "We're both going."

"Seeing as I'm pretty sure you're the only one who can set up a half way decent devil's trap, you need to stay here. Also, I don't trust you and you keep trying to kill me." Crowley said, side stepping Sam and calmly taking hold of Adam's arm. Before Sam could protest again, the two were gone.

"Damn it!" Sam shouted to the now empty house, kicking a decaying chair. He heard noise behind him and saw Crowley holding two bags from the trunk of the Impala.

"You might need these." The demon said, dropping them on the floor and disappearing again before Sam could get to him.

Sam was still fuming over the situation he was in, but set about preparing the house for holding a demon.

Crowley and Adam had appeared in front of an upscale office building. Adam wavered on his feet a bit, still not used to being moved about at will by supernatural beings.

"What are we doing here?" Adam asked, looking at the building. He saw people in the lobby. "Are those demons too?"

"No, those are human shields. The demons are upstairs, management." Crowley responded before suddenly appearing inside the building. Adam watched with horror as the demon slit the neck of the security guard. He ran for the building, finding the door unlocked and Crowley standing in the now empty lobby.

"What did you do that for? You said he was human!" Adam said, starting to freak out a bit and wishing Sam was there with him.

"What?" the demon responded, calmly cleaning his knife. "We're on a tight schedule, c'mon."

Adam gaped at the body on the floor, the large pool of blood.

"Don't get squeamish on me now, kid." Crowley said, dragging Adam to the elevator and hitting the button to call it to the lobby. Once it arrived, Adam was shoved into the elevator and Crowley hit the button for the top floor.

"Be safe up there." Crowley said flippantly. Adam stuck his leg out to keep the elevator door open.

"Why aren't you coming?" He asked.

"It's not safe up there, there's demons. Just go up there and tell him you can get him the other two horsemen's rings. Be convincing." Crowley responded, waving as the door closed forcing Adam to pull his foot back. He knew that there would be trouble once he reached the top floor. Adam nervously adjusted his jacket and felt something in the coat pocket that hadn't been there before. It was the knife that Sam had used to attack Crowley in the car and he guessed that it must be able to kill, or at least hurt demons. He was new at this, but if this got them the last two rings, Adam guessed he would just have to suck it up and fight.

Luckily, the demon on the top floor hadn't been expecting him and Adam was able kill him quickly. He jumped slightly as the double doors opened suddenly and he saw a man not much older than himself sitting at a desk.

"Adam, right?" The man said. "Please, come in. Let's chat."

Adam walked into the office, knife still in hand. He approached the desk cautiously.

"Have a seat." The demon said, waving a hand causing a chair to swivel towards him. "How are your brothers? Well, the one that isn't being used as angel skin anyway."

Adam didn't answer, unsure of what to say. He didn't really want to be here and didn't feel up to making conversation with a demon that was highly likely to kill him.

"Down to business then? Ok, what can I do for you, Adam?" The demon asked.

"It's, uh, it's more about what I can do for you." Adam replied nervously. "I've heard that you've been looking for the two horsemen rings my brothers have."

"Really? And, what? You'll just hand them over?" The demon said, leaning back in his chair and looking at Adam.

"For a price, yeah." Adam replied, reminding himself that he had to sell this or Crowley's plan, whatever is was, would fall through. "I just want to go back to my old life; no angels, no demons. I want this to be over."

"Who says I want them?" The demon asked smugly.

"Uh…" Adam stuttered.

"See, War and Famine are dead, dry husks and even if I could shove the rings back on their fingers, it wouldn't change anything." The demon said, standing and walking around the desk so he was sitting on its edge right in front of Adam. "That's all thanks to your brothers. So, no, I don't want the rings. What I want is retribution. And since I can't have your brothers, I guess I'll just have to rip it right out of your ass."  
The demon stood and punched Adam so hard he flew back through the doors to the office. As Adam tried to stand to escape, the demon kicked him and knocked him down again.

"I really owe you one, kid." The demon said, continuing to beat Adam. "This is therapeutic. I feel so much better."

Adam used all his strength to make a run for the elevators and luckily the one he rode up was still waiting on this floor. He made his way inside it and frantically pushed the button for it to take him back down to the lobby. Once it got there, he didn't see Crowley. Only the body of the security guard was there. He cautiously stepped off the elevator and looked around. The demon suddenly appeared behind him and knocked Adam to the ground again. He placed his arms up to defend himself but another blow never came. He glanced up and saw Crowley had placed a bag with the symbols Sam had shown him painted onto it.

"Great work, kid" Crowley said before he started pounding on the other demons head with a pipe until he collapsed.

"Is he dead?" Adam asked.

"No, takes much more than this to kill a demon of this caliber." Crowley said, turning the pipe in his hand.

"What that hell was that? You said he wanted the rings, but he wanted Sam or Dean or me." Adam shouted.

"Yes, and imagine the surprise on your face." Crowley said dismissively. "You can't fake that. This whole plan went like clockwork."

"Not for me!" Adam said, motioning to his now bleeding scalp.

"That's what you get for working with a demon." Crowley said jabbing the pipe at Adam. He knelt next to the fallen demon and sliced the man's shirt open before carving some more symbols into his chest. "This'll hold him down til we can get him back to the cabin."  
"What does that do?" Adam asked, still seething from the demons taunting words.

"It locks him in his meat suit, no smoking out. It's an important part of our bargaining strategy." Crowley said. "Now, I don't want to take him back to your brother but we don't really have a choice. I can't crack him on my own and you are hardly Dean Winchester."

"Why don't you want him near Sam?" Adam said, ignoring the insult.

"Well, they have … history." The demon replied.

* * *

 **I do plan to include Sam's conversation with Bobby n the next chapter. with a little twist.**


End file.
